Memories
by Live Fast Die Never
Summary: [Then as he turned his head their eyes met, just for one millisecond, and memories exploded in her mind.]


"Look who it is."

Ginny turned to look over, and suddenly time slowed down, every movement seemed precious to her.

He wasn't alone, but neither was she.

He first looked at Harry and nodded curtly, then as he turned his head their eyes met, just for one millisecond, and memories exploded in her mind.

* * *

"Harry Bloody Potter," Ginny said raising her firewhiskey, "May he have a miserable life and marry a hag!" She downed the entire glass cringing slightly as it ran down her throat. 

"Now that is something I never thought I'd see."

Ginny turned her head to see Draco Malfoy standing near the other side of the bar drinking something that Ginny didn't quite know what it was.

"But I'll toast to it." He said and took a drink, "What are you doing here Weasley, and cursing Potter."

"None of your business," Ginny growled and gladly accepted another drink from the bartender.

Malfoy cocked an eyebrow and sauntered over to her, "Well, I'm a curious man Weasley; I want to know why Saint Potter's girlfriend is wishing him into the grave and drinking herself there."

Ginny rolled her eyes, "I'm not his girlfriend anymore."

"Ah! He dumped you." Malfoy said seeming proud to have figured it out, "Well, that explains everything. The love of your life dumps you so you decided now is a good time to get bloody drunk."

"I dumped him." Ginny growled, "He was being a bloody arse!"

Malfoy smirked, "Please continuing, I love insulting Potter."

She looked over at him, and sighed. It was good to get her feelings out, and telling Hermione wouldn't be any help… or any of her family or friends. All of them loved Harry. Malfoy wasn't the ideal person to vent to, but it was better than nothing.

"He came up with this brilliant idea that we should move in together, I thought this was fantastic – not because I was in love with him – so, I moved in right after graduating then it gets difficult because we always get in arguments, over stupid things. Then suddenly we get in this argument over the last apple, and he starts using the apple as a metaphor for everything he hates about me." Ginny explained, well it wasn't all entirely true… Harry didn't really use it as a metaphor for things he hated about her, it had been some other less insulting word that didn't quite mean hate, but she forgot what it was.

"Of course, we get really mad at each other and he walks out saying he needs to think things over. So, I am stuck in the flat mulling things over and I realize that I can't deal with all of the arguments, I can't deal with everything! So, when he comes back I broke up with him… and stupid Harry gets all angst-y and upset. And I left, now he's probably telling Hermione and Ron what a terrible person I am and how I dumped him and their probably believing him. My mum and dad think Harry would be perfect for me so as soon as they here they'll probably think; 'Oh Ginny, how bloody stupid can you get?' Argh!" She let out all of her anger and slammed her head on the counter, "And this is all because of Harry Bloody Potter."

Malfoy laughed, "That is great." He said, and laughed once more.

"What?" Ginny asked, "You think my pain is great?"

"No." Malfoy answered, "You finally know how it is to be on the receiving end. Potter can somehow get everyone on his side, it's bloody awful."

"This is what you've gone through? Every time?" Ginny questioned.

He nodded, "Except for when Snape was involved. But with every other person it was like Saint Potter could do no wrong." He shook his head and sneered, "Did you hear about sixth year when he used Dark Arts on me?"

Ginny shook her head a little shocked that Harry would ever do anything like that.

"He got away with it, only a couple months of detention and booted off of the Quidditch team." Malfoy answered, "He almost killed me, he should have been expelled for that, any other student would have been."

Ginny stared at Malfoy for a longtime as she started to realize why Malfoy really hated Harry so much. Harry got away with everything… just because he was himself and Malfoy was jealous of that. "That does seem unfair."

"You think?" He questioned a little venomously, "And if hated done this to you, you still would have so wrapped up in Potter that you wouldn't have noticed what an utter arse he really is."

"Do you want to go out somewhere?" Ginny questioned.

Malfoy looked over at her a little shocked, "What?"

"You know, for like dinner or something… not as a date, but as two people who presently have a mutual loathing for Harry Potter?" She said with a slight smile and the comedy of her words.

Malfoy looked like he had almost smiled at it too, "Fine." He answered after a moment, "But I'll pay seeing as you probably couldn't afford to go to the places I go to eat. And I won't go to eat at any… café or something."

"You don't like café's?" Ginny questioned.

"Only when I'm having coffee,"

* * *

"You can't be serious?" Draco said looking down at the main course for their meal. They had been doing this for a month now. They'd go to work do whatever on a regular day and then go out for dinner. Today they were staying at the Malfoy Manor and Weasley had begged to pick what the house elves would make, in the end Draco had given in. 

Now he was standing in the dining room starting at the various types of pizza Weasley had told the house elves to make, and he was seriously questioning his previous decision.

"Nope." She answered happily. "As much as I love all of the meals we've been eating, they're all so proper. You need some good finger food."

"No I don't." Draco answered, "I need a knife and fork."

Weasley shook her head, "Now dig in." She sat down and grabbed up a slice taking a bite out of it.

Draco closed his eyes and sighed, "Fine." He said and sat down. He awkwardly grabbed a piece from the tray and lifted it to his mouth taking a bite. "Can I get a knife and fork now?" He asked as he placed it down on the plate.

Weasley shook her head, "No, knifes and forks!"

The rest of the meal passed with Weasley happily eating away and Draco taking awkward bites. Finally they finished.

"That was good." Weasley said, "We're gong to have to do that again."

"It was good, but never again." Draco answered and stood up, "Let's go to the sitting room and let the house elves clean up."

Weasley nodded and followed, "So, what do we do now?"

Draco shrugged and sighed, "What did you want to do?"

"Are we friends?"

The questioned startled Draco, he hadn't expected anything like that maybe a joke, but she was entirely serious about this, he stared at her for a longtime, unable to really answer the question.

Were they friends?

He didn't know. He thought about her, about how everyday he looked forward to their meal at the end of it, she was one of the people who came close to making smile. He had fun with her… wasn't that what a friend was? Someone you liked to be around and made you happy?

He stared at her a moment longer then said, "Yes."

She grinned, "Well, we might need to start a first name basis."

"I don't know, last names could be a sort of nickname thing." Draco answered and received a brilliant smile and a laugh.

* * *

Ginny sighed, she was getting tired and going home right now seemed a little exhausting. 

"Are you okay Weasley?" Draco questioned looking over at Ginny who was drifting in and out of sleep. Ginny smiled at him saying her last name.

After three months he still didn't call her Ginny. She was getting used to his first name by now, although she still called him Malfoy sometimes, just because he had yet to call her Ginny. "I'm tired." She answered.

"Did you want to go home?" Draco asked as he looked over at the large Grandfather clock leaning against the wall, "It is getting late."

She shook her head and smiled at him, "I don't want to go home."

Draco cocked an eyebrow, "Weasley, where are you going to sleep?"

"Here." Ginny answered looking around, "You have a comfy couch."

Draco sighed, "If you want to stay here the night I have plenty of guest rooms."

Ginny looked over at him and smiled. She hadn't really noticed before but he was quite good looking, she supposed that she hadn't noticed because of the foul personality he'd had in school, she nodded, "I'll take a guest room."

He stood, "Weasley?"

Ginny looked up at him, she was drifting in and out of sleep, "Could you carry me or something, because I might fall over."

"You are never staying up this late again." Draco muttered and he walked over trying to lift her up, "Come on Weasley, you could be a little more cooperative."

Ginny suddenly opened her eyes wide, "Oh!" She quickly moved into a position that made her easier to carry.

"Thank you." He said and lifted her easily carrying her to the guest room, "You know you're a little heavy Weasley."

"Are you calling me fat?" Ginny questioned, "Because you don't seem like you're having any trouble carrying me."

He smirked, "Well, you are a twig of a thing aren't you."

"I'm not twiggy." She mumbled and suddenly began to think of different things, of him… Draco Malfoy was becoming a very attractive man to her, very quickly.

As he carefully placed her in a bed and pulled the covers over her she grabbed his hand, "Wait." She muttered and pulled him closer. She leaned forward and lightly kissed him, he looked at her a little surprised.

She smiled at him, "That was nice." She commented and then leaned forward again kissing him, but harder this time, deeper. He responded immediately kissing her passionately.

* * *

Five months had passed since they had met at the bar, three months of friendship and two months that they had dated. 

Draco had found that they last two months were the best he had ever had… well, except for maybe when he first got on the Quidditch team, seeing Potter's face had been priceless. No, these two months had been better than even that.

Ginny was lying on the thick green grass on the grounds of Malfoy Manor it was by the flower garden. "There's a dragon!" She said pointing up towards the sky.

Draco looked up trying to see what she was pointing at, but didn't see it. He decided to pretend he did knowing that if he didn't she would spend a half-hour pinpointing it. "Oh yeah…" He said and smiled over at her.

She had a nice white flower tucked behind her ear; it looked beautiful with her vibrant red hair. "You look beautiful." He told her, voice his thoughts.

She smiled at him and shook her head, "I look terrible today. My hair wasn't working with me and my make up was a mess."

Draco chuckled; woman had such strange way about them. You could tell them something nice and they'd point out why you were wrong. You could tell a woman she looked beautiful and, of course, she'd point out everything that was wrong that day.

"Well, I think you look beautiful anyways." He answered.

She smiled at him and sat up before crawling over to where he sat by a Weeping Willow and cuddle into his side. He draped an over her shoulder and kissed her head, "But I think you look beautiful everyday."

"Well, you are being sweet today." Ginny commented and leaned up to kiss him on the lips, "I like it."

He smiled at her, and kissed her once more. "How was your day?" He asked.

She shrugged, "Harry dropped by."

Draco stiffened a bit; he didn't like Potter coming around Ginny. He hated that every minute all the people she knew were rooting for them to get back together and that they had no idea Ginny was with Draco, which made them press her to get with him all the more. "What did he want?" Draco asked his arm tightening around her a bit.

"He apologized." Ginny said, "For everything that everyone was putting me through, with all of the pressure."

Draco rolled his eyes.

"He said he would ask them to stop, and that he didn't want me to start dating him because that's what everyone wanted me to do." She explained to Draco, "He said that he wanted to be friends."

"So, you and Potter and buddies again?" Draco asked, a little annoyed. He'd liked it so much when she'd hated him.

She laughed and took his hand, "Yes. But I haven't forgotten the five months of torture and pressure I got on his account, or what he got away with when it came to you."

"I should probably get over that at some point; he did save my life twice. That kind of makes up for it." He said looking down at the grass very intently.

Ginny shrugged, "It's harder to forgive some you've hated for so long, even if they do something good for you… forgetting the past is hard Draco, you don't have to forgive him, not right now anyways."

"Someday?" Draco questioned.

Ginny smiled and nodded, "Someday."

* * *

They had been dating for five months now and Draco was taking her somewhere to celebrate. "Can I open my eyes now?" Ginny asked, 

Draco was silent for a moment before saying, "Yes." She opened her eyes and looked around, "Seriously?" She questioned looking at him.

He nodded, "You said that you wanted to."

She grinned at him and jumped up wrapping her legs around his torso and arms around his neck, kissing him passionately.

He stepped back a bit getting used to the extra weight and then kissed her back.

She smiled against his mouth and pulled back, "Thank you."

"You're worth it."

She grinned and got of him, putting her feet back on the ground and looked over at the vast amount of grass, "Something about this place." She said, "I've always loved it here."

Draco nodded, "It's like home."

Ginny sighed as she stared at the large castle. Hogwarts, it was the one place she'd told Draco that she wanted to go back to, just for a bit. So he'd brought her. She looked over at Draco and smiled as he watched the castle with his own eyes.

Something about how he watched the castle made Ginny wonder. So much had happened to him at this castle… she didn't even know if he liked the place. After his sixth year she couldn't image him enjoying it much. She watched him closely trying to understand what his eyes showed, but it was hard.

"Do you like it here?" She questioned.

He looked over at Ginny and nodded, "It was my home… and even during and after sixth year, it provided some amount of comfort."

"Yeah, during my sixth year… just knowing that I was in Hogwarts, it gave me a little hope and a little strength." She agreed and smiled at the building, "I miss it."

"Me too."

Ginny smiled sadly and moved on remembering why they were there, "So what are we going to do on this fine July evening?"

"Well, I convinced the house elves to bring us a picnic." Draco answered.

Ginny grinned and hugged him, "Thank you." She kissed him lightly.

He smiled at her and then grabbed her hand as they pulled away from each other, "Come on, the set it up over by the lake."

They arrived at the lake to find a beautiful meal and ate it in a comfortable silence. Ginny spent the time remembering her happy years at Hogwarts and she found herself thinking of her time with Draco, she wondered if he was doing the same.

After they finished Ginny laid back in the grass and sighed, "It's so beautiful…"

Draco was silent, Ginny sat up and looked at him, "Is something wrong?"

He didn't speak, he just stared at Ginny.

She was beginning to feel a little self-conscious from his un-deterring and intense stare, "Draco?"

"I love you." He said, so suddenly and so calmly that Ginny was shocked.

She reached forward and kissed him, "I love you too." She responded, tears of happiness in her eyes. He had been the first boyfriend she had to say that. Harry hadn't, Dean hadn't, and Michael defiantly hadn't.

He had been the first boyfriend she had to say he loved her, and even better, she loved him too.

* * *

Draco blinked open his eyes and smiled at the red head beside him. She was beautiful, and apparently exhausted. He kissed her head lightly and pulled away. He stood up and put on a new pair of clothes and collected her outfit that had been scattered across the floor in their madness the night before. 

He stepped out of his room carefully shutting the door and walked into the main room. He sat down as one of the house elves brought him a cup of coffee and the Daily Prophet.

He couldn't keep his mind on the paper though, his thoughts kept wandering to Ginny… but not just that, her heritage… her last name, how impossible the relationship was.

Ginny was looking for something more than this, she wanted more than just a boyfriend. Draco knew that and he also knew that he would love to marry her, to grow old with her, to have her bear his children… it was like a beautiful dream.

But it was only a dream. And he knew that.

He wondered if Ginny knew that they had no future beyond what they had. That this was as far as it could ever go.

She probably didn't. She probably didn't understand why they were still hiding their relationship. She didn't understand how much family prejudice had an effect on their lives, and she didn't understand the prestige of the Malfoy family, she didn't understand that if they ever married, if they ever went any further he would be disowned and the Malfoy line would end.

He was to proud of his family line to ever let that happen.

And it pained his heart that he was.

He knew that he needed to end it, to stop leading her on… letting her think they had a future. Having sex with her the night before had been a mistake and he knew it… but it had been too tempting… too hard to resist. And Merlin it had been amazing.

"Good Morning."

He looked up and smiled at Ginny, all thoughts suddenly vanished from his mind as he saw her. She hadn't put on her clothing; she had his sheet wrapped around her… Merlin she was beautiful. "Good Morning." He greeted her still admiring her choice in attire.

She grinned and walked over holding up the sheet and sat down cuddling up by him. "You reading the paper?"

Draco nodded, "I was."

Ginny put a hand behind his neck and lightly kiss his neck, then traveled up to his mouth where she kissed him roughly. He responded quickly, intoxicated by her. She pulled by back, "Did you want to keep reading it?"

He knew what she wanted, and he wanted it too… but he shouldn't.

She kissed him again.

He dropped the paper and his, now empty, coffee mug and lifted her onto his lap deepening the kiss.

Merlin he was weak.

* * *

She was so happy; she was practically skipping up to his door. They had been dating for eight months now; it was the greatest relationship that she could ever imagine. She lightly knocked on his door and waited for the house elf to answer it. 

"Miss Weasley." The house elf greeted her, she didn't know it's name. Draco had so many house elves that it was hard to remember which was which. Though she was pretty sure this one was name Tizzy. "Please come in."

She did so and Tizzy departed.

Ginny took off her shoes and walked up into the main room where she was surprised to see Draco wasn't there. She looked around and shrugged deciding to sit down and wait.

It was odd that he wasn't there, he was always waiting for her, especially when she was running behind, which –according to him- was all the time.

"Ginny." He greeted her as he walked in. She immediately noted that he looked very tired.

She stood and walked over to him, "Are you okay? You look exhausted."

He backed a bit away from her embrace. Ginny looked at him oddly.

"There's something I need to talk to you about." Draco said, his voice was filled with sorrow.

Ginny felt a twist in her stomach, would he really do it?

He took a deep breath, "This is the farthest it can ever go." He said, "It can't go on to engagement and marriage… children." His voice cracked a bit on the last word.

"What do you mean?" Ginny asked, she felt tears beginning to reach her eyes, "Why not?"

"You are a Weasley, and I am a Malfoy." He answered, "It too complicated with family prejudice."

"What?" Ginny questioned angrily, "You don't want to marry me because of family prejudice!"

"Ginny…"

She shook her head violently as tears fell down her cheeks, "I don't give a damn about that, not a bit!" She yelled at him.

"I do!" He responded just as loud, "I need to continue my line, and they won't let you be the one to carry my children. It can't happen Ginny."

"It can." She hissed at him, "You just need to get over your damned family pride."

Draco shook his head sadly, his momentary anger seeming to have died, "I can't."

She let out a sob, "So, this is it?"

"We don't have to end it… we just can't go any further." Draco said.

Ginny mouth opened a bit, shocked at the suggestion. How could she go on seeing him knowing that it would never go anywhere, knowing that she would never be his wife, that she would never wear the beautiful wedding dress… She couldn't. She needed to know that one day she would have a family, and Draco couldn't give her that.

"I need to go." She said, "And… I don't want to see you again."

"What?" He asked seeming to be shocked.

She closed her eyes letting more tears fall, "You are a bastard, and I don't want to see you ever again."

She quickly stormed out of his house slamming the door on her way out. She was a wreck leaving his house.

Going in she had been in love, now she had a broken heart.

What kind of person was he? Thinking he could leading her to think they had a future and then taking it away. It was horrible.

How could she have once believed he was a decent person?

It was his stupid pride, needing to keep the family name going… and he couldn't marry a Weasley because of that.

She hated him for it.

* * *

He watched her. 

It had barely been a day and he found himself wishing that she would come back… that he could hold her one more time.

But that wasn't an option, so he settled with watching her.

She looked miserable.

It was déjà vu, seeing her sitting at the bar, alone and in pain.

This time it was his fault, and he couldn't comfort her.

Then someone else came, he felt his blood boil, it was Potter. He was hugging her, asking what was wrong. She wouldn't tell him, so he just hugged her. Bought her a drink… comforted her, like Draco should have been.

He found himself a little thankful for Potter. Thankful that he was there to make her feel better… that he would always be there for her. Which was more than Draco could say about himself.

Potter would get her back on her feet, back to looking for someone to make her happy. Someone who wasn't Draco.

He turned away, deciding to leave her in Potter's hands. Trusting Potter to take care of her, take better care of her than he ever could.

Because when it came down to it; she was right, he was a bastard.

He hated himself for it.

* * *

Ginny stared at her reflection a huge grin on her face, she was getting married and she looked beautiful. 

She loved Harry more than she could ever imagine, more than she had ever loved anybody else, so why was it that on her wedding day to Harry, she was thinking about Draco?

She had loved him, once upon a time, two years ago.

She found herself questioning her decision to marry Harry, and it scared her to be thinking that, she knew that Harry was her one true love… and she knew that she would never love anyone like she loved Harry… so why?

"Are you okay Gin?" Hermione asked, she was wearing her light blue bridesmaid dress, "You look a little nervous, or worried.

Ginny looked over at Hermione, she needed to talk to someone about it, she needed to get it out. "Hermione, for one year… I dated Draco Malfoy."

She looked a little surprised and confused, "Why are you telling me this?"

"We were in love." Ginny continued, "But it ended because of family prejudice and all of that… that was two years ago."

"This was during your break up from Harry?" Hermione questioned and Ginny nodded, "Well, what does this have to do with anything?"

"I've been thinking about him… Draco, and I know that I love Harry… a lot, more than I loved Draco… but I keep wondering if I'm making a mistake with Harry." Ginny admitted, "Is there something wrong with me… should I just ignore this? Does it mean something?"

"I think that you should marry Harry." Hermione said, "But I think that you're thinking about Malfoy because…" She thought about it for a moment, "When Ron and I were first dating I thought a lot about Viktor, oh, never tell Ron about this."

"I promise." Ginny said with an amused look. Ron and Hermione had gotten married the year earlier and Ron was still madly jealous of Viktor Krum.

Hermione smiled, "Alright, so I thought a lot about him and Viktor and I hadn't been in love." She explained, "I only thought about him because I didn't really feel the closure with him quite properly. He was my first boyfriend; I couldn't forget him… so I finally just found a way to move on."

"How?" Ginny asked.

"I talked to him." Hermione answered, "And I realized that I had no more feelings for him."

Ginny nodded, "So… it's kind of like… Draco was the first man to have ever loved me back, I need to have closure?"

"Your closure can be different from mine, just think about Malfoy and think about Harry, Ginny." Hermione said, "Which do you really love more?"

"Harry." Ginny answered quickly.

"Then you know what to do." Hermione said, "Don't worry about Malfoy."

Ginny smiled. She knew it wasn't closure and she wasn't sure if she would ever get closure. She knew that she still loved him, but she also knew that she loved Harry more. And Harry was willing to give her something that Draco wasn't.

She sighed and went back to admiring herself as Hermione left to room.

* * *

She wasn't alone, but neither was he. 

He had his wife, his pureblood, former Slytherin wife. She had her golden boy.

Their eyes met, only for a millisecond. Memories flooded back into his mind, and he knew he would always love her.

He knew she would always love him.

But they had needed to move on, and grow up. They needed to live their lives, and their lives were never met to be with each other.

He smiled as he turned away. They were both happy with their lives.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **I'm not quite sure I'm happy with the end… but I tried a couple different ways and I know that this is the best I'm going to get. 

I wanted to write a Ginny/Draco story that worked with the Seventh Book and Epilogue, so I came up with this. I wanted at the end to stress that they loved each other, but they were happy apart.

I hope you like it!

R&R  
Live Fast Die Never


End file.
